INS Dakar
INS Dakar (Hebrew: אח"י דקר) was a diesel–electric submarine in the Israeli Navy. The vessel, a modified World War II British T-class submarine, had previously been HMS Totem of the Royal Navy. She was purchased by Israel from the Government of the United Kingdom in 1965 as part of a three T-class submarine deal.
INS Dakar in the 1968 configuration | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Israel | |
| Name | INS Dakar |
| Ordered | 1942, as HMS Totem |
| Builder | H.M. Dockyard Devonport |
| Laid down | 22 October 1942 |
| Launched | 29 September 1943 |
| Acquired | Purchased in 1965 |
| Commissioned | 10 November 1967 |
| Identification | Pennant number: 77-צ |
| Fate | Sunk on or shortly after 25 January 1968 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement |
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| Length | 276 ft 6 in (84.28 m) |
| Beam | 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) |
| Draught |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range | 4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h) surfaced |
| Test depth | 300 ft (91 m) max |
| Complement | 61 |
| Armament |
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Dakar and her entire 69-man crew were lost en route to Israel on 25 January 1968. Despite extensive searches over the course of three decades, its wreckage was not found until 1999, when it was located between the islands of Cyprus and Crete at a depth of approximately 3,000 m (9,800 ft). The submarine's conning tower was salvaged and is on display outside the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum in Haifa.
The exact cause of Dakar's sinking remains unknown. It was one of four mysterious submarine disappearances in 1968; the others were those of the French submarine Minerve, the Soviet submarine K-129, and the U.S. submarine USS Scorpion.